Copending applications Ser. No. 615,506 and 737,420, now U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,060,294 and 4,199,206, respectively, both owned by the Assignee of this application, disclose space-divider wall structures which include a plurality of prefabricated panels releasably joined together and individually electrically prewired to facilitate the supplying of electrical energy to regions bounded by the wall structure. These wall structures also accommodate communication cables therein. While the wall structures of the above applications are highly desirable, nevertheless continued development has been carried out to further improve these structures.
The present invention thus relates to a wall structure of the type disclosed in application Ser. No. 737,420, but wherein additional improvements have been made in this wall structure, particularly with respect to the electrical prewiring of the individual panels and the resulting electrical system resulting therefrom, so as to greatly expand the capability, usability, adaptability and convenience of the wall structure.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved wall structure formed from a plurality of prefabricated panels releasably joined together, which panels are individually electrically prewired to facilitate the supplying of electrical energy to regions adjacent the wall structure. More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a wall structure of this type which is prewired to provide two or more electrical circuits which are designed so that the wall structure can thus be easily assembled and interconnected in such a manner as to increase the number of panels which can be effectively connected in series so that a first plurality of series-connected panels can be provided with one electrical circuit and serially interconnected to a second plurality of series-connected panels which are provided with a second electrical circuit. This thus permits the wall structure to be adapted for use in much larger areas while permitting the use of fewer power inputs to the wall structure, and at the same time providing sufficient external electrical sockets associated with different electrical circuits so as to permit proper connection of necessary equipment such as typewriters and the like.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved wall structure, as aforesaid, which permits one circuit to be provided solely for connection to external sockets which are connectible to external electrical equipment such as typewriters and the like, while providing a seaprate electrical circuit which is associated with the internal wall structure of the panel and can thus be easily utilized for supplying energy to lighting fixtures and the like as mounted on or directly associated with the panels. This substantially improves the flexibility and adaptability of the system while minimizing the number of electrical inputs which must be connected to the wall structure.
Still a further object of the invention is to provide an improved wall structure, as aforesaid, which provides for substantial adaptability and capability in the electrical system without requiring any substantial manual labor and/or installation of electrical conduits and the like during assembly and installation of the wall structure.
Other objects and purposes of the invention will be apparent to presons familiar with systems of this type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.